Most fixed size tables in Hitman have been rewritten to use dynamic memory allocation. Version 10 will support an unlimited number of entries in these tables. Users updating these tables from the menu interface, which requires fixed screens, will be limited to 2,048 entries in each table; after that updates to the table will need to be performed using the DCL interface which has no such limitation. The revised tables are:

The detached process' table for monitoring the system was limited to 2,000 processes without a special kit. In V10 the number of processes can be set by the user. During data file conversion it will default to the value of the SYSGEN parameter MAXPROCESSCNT. The value can be set to 0 (use MAXPROCESSCNT value), 1-99 (set to that percentage of MAXPROCESSCNT) or 100 or greater (use that specific value). This will be particularly useful on large systems that require more than 2,000 processes or on workstations where a smaller value will use signficantly less memory.

Protection, idle and warn times and connect times can now be set for specific process names. Previously process names could only be used in the protection table.

Path settings can now be used for protection, idle and warn times and connect times. The path is the complete path including device, directory, filename and type for images. This will make it possible, for example, to protect the production copy of an image while allowing the development copy to be terminated by Hitman for testing purposes.

Detailed termination debugging has been made available with a new termination logging option. When this option is enabled every step of process termination is logged to help track where problems may be occurring.

Unlimited special user exit routines. The default user exit routine function provided with V8 and V9 of Hitman allowed sites to set up a special exit that bypassed Hitmans' process termination routine. This exit was configured using logical names to define the image (wildcards were supported) to watch for. When an idle process, running that image, was discovered instead of killing the process Hitman would use the values specified in a number of logical names to submit a batch job, under a user specified username, to a user specified queue so that site specific action could be taken. In V10 this user exit configuration data is now included in the permanent data files instead of using logical names. It is also possible to setup as many user exit checks as desired instead of just 1. To make this functionality more useful we have changed the exit routine from checking for specific images to checking for specific paths (ie: disk:[directory]image.exe); file version number is ignored. A new qualifier was added with appropriate keywords: hitman /special_exit=(path=image_to_use_exit_for, node=node_to_watch_on, job=job_to_submit_when_a_user_is_idle_in_this_image, username=username_to_submit_batch_job_under, queue=queue_to_submit_batch_job_to, debug=t_or_f)

Additional Enhancements Requested by Customers

An event to monitor the system for CPU errors. This functionality has been added to the monitor device error event. Enter "CPU:" for the device name.

An event to monitor the system for memory errors. This functionality has been added to the monitor device error event. Enter "MEMORY:" for the device name.

An option on the present process event to guarantee that it is running under a specific UIC. Note: For implementation purposes it was determined that it would be easier to make this change using a username check instead of a UIC check. This functionality has been added and tested for both local and remote node present process events. To make this event type work like prior versions enter an asterisk "*" for the username.

An option on the present batch job event to guarantee that it is running under a specific username. This functionality has been added. To make this event type work like prior versions enter an asterisk "*" for the username.

As a result of the previous two items the check username functionality has also been added to the absent process and absent batch events. These events can now be configured to be true if the process/batch job that is being checked for is found but is not running/submitted under the specified username. To make these events works like prior versions simply use the "*" wildcard character for the username.

A number of users found our check verifying the mail to username in events restrictive because they use extensions to OpenVMS mail for accessing internet addresses or other mail systems. We have been requested to allow a "literal" e-mail address functionality for this field and in distribution list files. This functionality has been added. To enter a literal mail name and bypass Hitman's username checks preceed the address with a colon (:). Mail addresses maybe up to 35 characters long.

Added to V10.0.1 (fall of 2003)

During development of V9.1 two additional features requested for V10 were added. They have now been added to V10 as well. They are:

When exiting the menu after making changes to the permanent data file Hitman will now ask if it should save the changes (default action) or discard them. Previously changes were always saved.

A number of users have indicated that the way their terminal settings get set when Hitman exits the menu creates problems for them. It is no possible to tell Hitman how to set your terminal characteristics whenever you exit the menu. Simply define the logical name HITMAN$TERMINAL_SETUP (add the definition to your login.com file with /job to make this automatic). For example if you use VT420 emulation formatted 132 columns by 42 lines:

$ define/job hitman$terminal_setup "/device=vt420/width=132/page=42"

will reset your terminal characteristics upon exiting the menu. Be sure to use /job with the definition since the menu does spawn and attach into a subprocess.

V10.0.2

Logout events were not always being signalled correctly. This problem was fixed.

V10.0.3

When modifying the server protection list through the menu an error was generated if the list was empty. This problem was fixed so that an empty list, like all other empty lists in V10, would generate a prompt asking the user if they want to add entries.

V10.0.4

Sometimes a hitman /version command did not give full details on the currently loaded Hitman, or Cohort, license. This has been fixed.

The three separate identifier based lists in Hitman V10 (protection, wait/warn and connect) were all being processed at different times during the data collection process. Sites using 2 or all 3 of these tables saw a marked impact on resource usage by Hitman due to this. Now Hitman V10 does one loop during which all three tables are checked; users using 2 tables should see dio cut by about 1/2, users using all 3 tables should see dio cut by as much as 2/3.